


Not Your Average Baby-Sitters Club Member

by NotoriousReign



Category: Degrassi: Next Class
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Babysitting, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:42:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24154501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotoriousReign/pseuds/NotoriousReign
Summary: Esme Song is not a babysitter, ask anyone. And yet, here she is, given the daunting task to babysit! Give her SOME credit though, she knows what she's doing. But maybe, just maybe, a lot of it comes from the fact that this baby is Frankie's niece... and Esme loves Frankie.
Relationships: Frankie Hollingsworth/Esme Song
Kudos: 7
Collections: Mola Hope Universe





	Not Your Average Baby-Sitters Club Member

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Things We Can't Rewrite](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/619378) by drizzletomyhurricane. 



> Based on a prompt made by one of my friends. This is set in drizzletomyhurricane's Degrassi universe on fanfiction.net where Lola doesn't have an abortion. She and Miles have the baby, name her Hope, and flourish in a loving relationship together after all. The fic is very long, vast, fun, and when I was introduced to it I had a great time reading it. Frankie and Esme are also starting to be established in it and in my fic they've been public for some time to their families, especially Frankie's. 
> 
> Miles and Lola do make an appearance where it's clear they've been together for awhile, but I didn't tag the ship because I don't want to misinterpret their focus. 
> 
> Enjoy!

* * *

“Are you insane? Were you dropped on the head as a baby?”

Frankie smirked. She didn’t turn from her purse, because she had to make sure she had _everything_. If she forgot her health card again, she’d never hear the end of it.

“No, but Hope was. By me.”

“Oh, that’s just fantastic.”

She looked over her shoulder and tried not to grin _too_ broadly at the way Esme was holding her niece properly, like a second skin. Head cradled near the elbow, the rest of Hope’s body on her arm. She was a natural, but God forbid she admit it. 

The one thing Ms Esme Song wasn’t overly confident about. Who would’ve thought?

“Can you relax? If I can _barely_ manage to babysit her for a day, you can handle a few hours.”

Esme sat on Frankie’s canopied bed, positioned herself just comfortably enough on it so both she and the baby weren’t about to fall off. She wasn’t an animal. She also wasn’t a babysitter.

Since Lola decided to keep her baby a little less than a year ago, things haven’t been the same. “Normal” was a word thrown around more often than Esme would care to remember, especially from Frankie. Considering Esme’s normal was pills, a distant father who didn’t even know she was bisexual, and middling house arrest, she wasn’t exactly impressed with Frankie’s complaints.

At first. She soon started to notice the changes and, to everyone’s shock, flourished as Frankie’s companion. But was she cut out for babysitting?

“No.” She answered her own question and Frankie wasn’t even confused.

Her girlfriend turned and, ugh, she had _pity_ on her face. Fully pouting. It was cuter than it should’ve been.

“Where’s that good old Esme Song confidence that invites herself to a camping trip huh?”

“ _That_ was different. That was for Zig and he’s an idiot.”

Hope cooed loudly, dangling a finger through Esme’s pearl necklace. Esme quickly pulled the hand out, holding it tightly.

“Not a toy!”

At that, the baby laughed.

“You’re a natural.” Frankie finished zipping her purse and sat across from her. The pout was gone, she was somber for the first time that day. “Seriously. The whole family would appreciate it.”

And family meant a lot to her.

So Esme rolled her eyes and pretended like this was the most annoying thing anyone could ever possibly make her do, but secretly she didn’t _really_ mind it. A baby kept her mind occupied, kept her caring for a smaller person and kept her away from that house she never called home. It was a win and she didn’t have to say so out loud because after six months of dating, Frankie already knew.

Lola and Miles had already left for their date so she was spared whatever _looks_ they would’ve given her. And Frankie’s mom was the one taking her to the doctor. Once she was alone in that big old house those first few minutes, Esme held out the drooling baby at arm’s length and tilted her head.

Hope observed her right back. Why did babies have to have such soulful eyes? Too big for their bodies. And this one too similar to her father’s. But then, Esme had a feeling if they looked more like Frankie’s it’d be even creepier. And besides, Hope broke the tension first by gurgling and reaching out to touch her nose.

Esme couldn’t help smirking. She hoisted the baby high in her arms and took in the spacious foyer surrounding them.

“First, I feed you. Then… we explore this place. How does that sound little baby?”

She assumed the little shriek was baby talk for yes.

* * *

Frankie arrived home from a doctor’s appointment she hadn’t dreaded for the first time in what felt like seventy years. She didn’t care if it was exaggeration, even when she voiced her concern to her mom and saw that annoying eye-roll.

She was eager to get home, but had a tough time trying not to show it. If anybody doubted even a smidge of her trust in Esme, game over. It’d been hard enough convincing them dating her wasn’t dangerous, but leaving her alone with Miles’s _daughter_? She had to bite down her own pride and remind them of all the times she fumbled for them to leave the poor girl alone.

Everyone deserved a second chance right?

The house was eerily quiet at first when they walked in, but it wasn’t a discernible mess so that had to count for something. Frankie caught the skeptical look she gained from her mom before Mrs. Hollingsworth brushed it away with a quick smile and started putting away her purse and coat.

“I need to make a call for work. Go check on Esme and Hope for me?”

Frankie all but bolted out of the foyer. 

She found them in Frankie’s room again and she would’ve assumed they had spent the whole day there if it weren’t for the scene before her.

Hope was propped sitting up against Frankie’s many pillows. Her dark curls were covered with an oversized purple fedora. A feathered boa matched, draped just around the back of her neck so as not to choke her. Emerald sunglasses covered similar eyes, with giant heels on her tiny pudgy feet that Frankie later realized were her own mom’s.

A flash of light startled her back to her senses and she watched Esme, knees on the floor, elbows propped against the edge of the bed, experiment with different angles on the phone. She continued cheering on a slightly intrigued baby. 

"Work it girl! Show off your good side!" 

Another flash and Esme turned, sensing Frankie's presence. She lowered the phone and stood. 

“Oh hey, you’re back early!”

“Are you having a photoshoot with the baby? With _out_ me?”

Esme shrugged, pocketing the phone and flipping her braid over her shoulder. “Ya snooze ya lose Franks.”

But she was smiling and Frankie smiled back. For the next few minutes they salvaged Hope through all the oversized clothes, pulling them off gently and greeting her with such enthusiasm one would think she was a princess getting ready for a royal bath. But then, she _was_ a princess in that house.

It was Lola’s turn to have Hope overnight at her family’s house, which meant Miles was staying with her as well. As the sun set and Miles brought her out to his car with his waiting girlfriend, Frankie stood by their doorway with her own.

She could feel Esme squirming a little next to her, but at least she didn’t huff, and to their surprise they watched Hope start fussing in Miles’s arms.

“Looks like she wants her Auntie Frankie!” He called out.

Frankie turned, biting down a smile at the way Esme’s neck reddened.

“No, I think she wants Auntie Esme.”

Lola exchanged a glance with Miles as they buckled her in the backseat. The judgment in their gazes wasn’t nearly as blatant as it had been a year ago. When Lola turned back she smiled enthusiastically, as perky of a mom as ever.

“Aww, she’s gonna grow up so spoiled!”

“We’ll send you the pictures Esme took of her. They’re _adorable_.”

“Purely PG.” Esme replied quickly, throwing in her usual humour.

Lola’s excited smile was friendly and even Miles smirked in acknowledgment. They drove off and left the two girls, all of them still only teenagers, alone in the vast driveway.

“I guess I should be going. I’ll get my stuff.” Esme abruptly turned away and Frankie quickly caught the way her voice shook. Those angry tears were all too familiar.

She followed her into the house, confused. But she knew that she had to remain calm. If Esme was ready to start a fight, it meant she was upset about something.

“What! No way, stay over, we’ll have a sleepover!” When she didn’t turn, still hurrying up the butterfly staircase, Frankie sighed. “Please tell me what’s wrong.”

It was a voice she knew always worked on Esme, even though Esme refused to admit it. Embarrassed shoulders slumped as the figure stopped and let out a groan.

“I explored the house with Hope.”

“Okay? So?” Frankie joined her midway up the stairway. 

Esme kept her gaze down, jaw set and of course bracing for that fight. 

“And I saw your mom’s liquor cabinet. And...”

Now Frankie understood. This wasn’t anger. It was embarrassment. And a little bit of sadness.

“And you were tempted?”

Esme’s embarrassment washed away in surprise. She stared up at Frankie, worried. “You don’t assume I had some?”

Frankie made sure she didn’t pause long enough. She hated that sometimes, out of the blue, she’d have these fears. And her family didn’t always help, even when they were trying to joke around. But regardless of how little those doubts frequented her worries, she still believed that Esme was always trying. And trying was enough. She hadn’t tried this hard with anybody else.

“Of course not. You were with Hope. I know you do care about her.”

Esme relaxed then, tried to brush it off. “Oh well… whatever. Sure, I can stay tonight.”

But a world of emotions had passed through her during that split second. All those assumptions, all that fear. Frankie wrapped her arm through Esme’s and finished the distance with her up the rest of the stairs. She never wanted that fear to be a normal reaction again.

“Guess what though. Hope isn’t here anymore and my mom’s working. We can have a _little_ bit of fun.”

And with that, they made sangrias and spent the rest of the night together. Watching Legacies, gushing over the pictures Esme took of Hope, and a little bit of fooling around.

Maybe babysitting wasn’t such a bad bonding experience after all.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> So that turned into more of a Fresme fic than the babysitting fic I intended, but I hope people still enjoyed it! 
> 
> I also want to clarify that I have nothing against Lola's abortion storyline, or abortion as a viable option for women. This is just an AU!


End file.
